The new News Corp aristocracy

Though it’s little known, Australia had an aristocracy for a while. There was never much of it -- a few baronetcies, the nobility consolation prize, some of whom might still be around. But the practice died out decades ago.

Now someone’s having another crack at it: News Corp Australia, where ranks of plum jobs are so stuffed with the children of existing and former journalists as to resemble a stately home on Christmas Eve. Both Akerman daughters, Tessa and Pia, roam the halls of News. Joe Kelly, son of Paul, has gone into the family business of Catholic political apocalyticism -- with a ridiculous beat-up about a wedding magazine losing its advertisers as a threat to our ferrdom -- and, of course, Miranda Devine (who came to the Tele from the SMH) is the daughter of the late Frank, the culture-warrior editor of the Oz a long time back.